Dies to Removal

Well, I think it goes slightly deeper than that. It's not that African lives aren't valued as much as French lives. Or that "death is just something that happens in Africa." But instead, though similar, I think it's that everybody believes Africa to be a war-torn continent. Death happens in warzones, people think Africa is a huge warzone, so it seems more normal in a twisted way. Paris, however, is a favorite vacation destination and hasn't seen war since WW2.

I think civilian casualties in areas of political and military conflict are seen much differently than civilian casualties in otherwise peaceful locales.

Apparently it's in response to Charlie Hebdo (the satirical magazine that got attacked) depictions of Muhammed. Islam frowns on the depiction of the Prophet because he was worried about them worshiping him as a false idol after seeing Christianity do the same with Jesus. Horrible that now it's twisted so much you basically have the same result.

What I'm seeing and reading in the news about this reminds me a LOT of the Boston Marathon bombings. Not as many people died here (though hundreds were severely injured) because of the great hospitals in the area and medical staffing at the finish line for athletes, but the manhunt especially is eerily familiar. Whole cities being shut down and afraid of 2 crazies.